Linette Applegate Garden Design

At just 34 years of age, she was Head Gardener to the team of gardeners at Toddington Manor near Milton Keynes, running the 50-acre private estate with beautiful gardens open to the public, including fine formal borders, wildflower meadow, croquet lawn, rose garden, herb garden and cricket pitch, ponds and woods. Dedicated to passing on traditional gardening skills, Linette trained a new gardener each year, ran workdays for the WFGA charity, gave talks to local gardening groups about the Manor, and ran in-house gardening courses for beginners. Whilst studying for her RHS qualifications at Oaklands Horticultural College, an opportunity arose for a trainee gardener. Working under the close supervision of Robin Mason (Head Gardener to Lord and Lady Bath, Longleat estate) this paved the way to her chosen career.